Misleading advertising...

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:59 am

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:And, BTW, isn't it convenient that the Fortune 500 cover looks A LOT like the DP 5 logo...?

I really wish it had been the Fortune 600. Either that or we were up to version 6 already.

Any graphic person who does that cover is going to want to maximize the "5" you would think. And if they started out on that train of thought of making the 5 as a numeral and not 500, then the logical choice is going to put the word "hundred" exactly where it is.

The DP logo was influenced by a piece of artwork. Again so? It's not like that's wrong as far as I see it. Perhaps those who complain ought to design a better logo and set MOTU straight. I really guess I don't quite understand what the complaint is about that.

To me, it does seem coincidental... at least the graphic similarity as I'm sure MOTU has no influence over the artwork Fortune magazine designs. As far as MOTU choosing that image, it could very well have been that somebody noticed the logo seemed similar (or not) to the MOTU logo and used that image. I really don't see anything unethical about it. The slam on MOTU I'm gathering is that they're using that particular image to make the people who just happen across the MOTU web site (i.e. people like us... a very small subset of the general population) glance at it, not read the first sentence or two of the article, and come away with a false impression intentionally subliminally implanted in our minds that MOTU Inc., a relatively small privately-held company, is an actual member of the Fortune 500. Hopefully I have that right? If so, they didn't fool MIDI Life or anyone else here. I'm waiting for a post by someone who says "I just found this thread. I saw that the other day on MOTU's page and I thought 'Wow, MOTU is in the Fortune 500!' I'm glad this was pointed out to me.'"

But let me ask the next logical question. I disagree that this is some sort of slippery, subterfuge on the part of MOTU, but if it were, just what does MOTU stand to gain by making a few musicians who are in a hurry, don't read the article, and are somewhat deficient in critical thinking skills assume that MOTU is a member of the Fortune 500?

What's in it for MOTU to do this?

robstudio · Post by **robstudio** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:00 am

oops, wrong thread

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:58 pm

By the way, I do want to apologize to Michael, (MIDILife), if in my disagreement with him I made it too personal. I admit I'm a bit defensive about MOTU. I am not their employee, but they have been good to this community and me. They may not post here all that often, but they do in fact link to here from their site, and overall I think they make a great products and do a pretty good job of treating their customers well.

As for political references though, I absolutely think they need to be avoided at all costs as I do not wish to see the OT Forum here descend into the bitter place that got so bad I deleted the whole OT Forum and only brought it back with the "no religion, no politics" rule aggressively enforced.

Michael, I hope you accept my apology. We disagree starkly, but I do not think of you as anything other than a very talented and very rational person.

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:00 pm

Thanks James. My thick skin has yet to be pierced here.

MM

Resonant Alien · Post by **Resonant Alien** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:14 pm

My 2 (or 3) cents:

It is not advertising - it is a entry on the news portion of the website.

They are quoting from an article in the magazine, so why wouldn't they use a picture of the magazine from which they are quoting? What other picture should they have used in this case?

The people that designed the cover of that magazine probably don't even know who MOTU is, unless they are musicians or happened to read that particular article. If they did know MOTU, I doubt they would let them design their cover.

I didn't even read the whole story, but it was clear to me just from reading the intro blurb on the homepage that they are referencing an article in the magazine that quoted the use of DP, not that they are trying to say they are a Fortune 500 company.

If they were a F500 company, who cares? Why would anyone visiting the MOTU website care one way or the other whether they are a F500 company or not. I doubt that would influence anyone's decision to buy their product or not. The goal of misleading advertising would be to make people buy your product who otherwise would not.

The only point of them wanting to make people believe that they are a F500 company would be if they were a public company and were trying to drive up their stock price by making investors think they are a F500 company. But they are a private company, have no stock, and investors would not be that stupid anyway.

Just not seeing the big deal here that lead to a 3 page thread..

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:36 am

Resonant Alien wrote:... it was clear to me just from reading the intro blurb on the homepage that they are referencing an article in the magazine that quoted the use of DP...

That really is my point. DP and MOTU are NOT mentioned in the article. Not once. W...

davedempsey · Post by **davedempsey** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 4:56 am

There are so many ways to view any particular event, article or other such information. In my opinion, how you choose to view it, consciously or unconsciously, is indicative, to some degree at least, of a political position. In regards the rules of engagement for this forum, this would imply danger in all communication for the poster and the reader. The poster can be, or can feel, so easily misunderstood, just as the reader can easily misread intent. This is, of course , also the great strength of any democratic process. It can only falter if we abandon civility or the ability to respectfully disagree with another point of view.
Advertising is a reality of our lives, we live in an information based world. In my reckoning the message of the particular Motu article is very straightforward: this guy is a successful musician whose clients figure prominently in the Fortune 500 list. We could all reasonably assume that decision makers in F500 companies would be astute and demanding individuals with high expectations. This musician uses Motu products extensively in his work, so we can all reasonably assume that Motu products are capable of high quality output - at least to the satisfaction of F500 movers and shakers. We can also reasonably assume, in a secondary way, that this successful musician could quite easily afford to use far more expensive products in his work but, nevertheless, uses Motu product.
Graphic similarities in the numbers 5 undoubtedly lend weight to these otherwise reasonable assumptions. Such effects are commonplace in the world of advertising and really are no different to the sort of things we do to audio when mixing - slight boost in the mids and clever use of Haas delays to bring a solo line out of the mix without large gain increase- we cause the ear/mind to focus on the message. Seems entirely reasonable to me. Then again, I'm fairly old and quite easily bored - not to mention prone to posting things that will most likely be completely misunderstood. Perhaps after all it's only solitaire

Lillian.

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:50 pm

chrispick wrote:
vier-personen wrote:I don‘t like the way every discussion that is not about a way to do something in dp or getting married is pushed into ridiculousity.
Man, then you must hate most of my posts.

FWIW, the Fortune 500 ad didn't rub me the wrong way at all. My knee-jerk response wasn't to think that MOTU was a 500 company.

BTW, Chris, when you gonna share some of that chicken with us? I want a drumstick. A breast might not be bad. A pair of breasts might not be bad. Oh wait... never mind. Just the drumstick.

Shooshie

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:57 pm

MLC, I applaud the wit with which you maintain yourself under fire. You're a good dude, dude. Even if your ad-sensitivity sensor dial has been set to 11. No problem. I hear what you're saying, and in some cases it really IS misleading. I don't think this is one of them, but I understand why you do. Great-Balls-O-Fire, Man! Tell us all about it!

Shooshie

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:51 pm

Thanks Shooshie. Life's too short and WAY too much fun to get your knickers in a knot over such trivial items. There are far better ways to get your knickers in a knot - but we won't talk about my weekend...

Frankly, I didn't see the recent posts as being controversial at all, simply an observation by essentially a disinterested third person (me). Yet that is how they ended up - in a bit of controversy.

From an anthropological viewpoint, it is very interesting to see how that escalation developed. The emotional responses surprised me, and are actually a bit humorous at times. The human propensity for "taking sides" is also an interesting thing to see. Well worth the the 'slings and arrows.'

For those of us who use our REAL names here, it is more understandable that we might take offense more readily. What balls we have! It is probably a bit easier for us to respond sharply, and oddly, easier for us to "get over it" and move on. Why? Because we know who we REALLY are. We have our own faces, feelings and lives. For me, we are "more human" in terms of what we say and do, and are probably more easily criticized because we are 'real.' I feel like I know James and Brad more as real people (and guys like Frodo and yourself, with whom I have PM'ed on real musical stuff - and basically know who you are - in reality.)

But the critical, nasty, anon comments... essentially meaningless.

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 6:55 pm

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:Thanks Shooshie. Life's too short and WAY too much fun to get your knickers in a knot over such trivial items. There are far better ways to get your knickers in a knot - but we won't talk about my weekend...

Frankly, I didn't see the recent posts as being controversial at all, simply an observation by essentially a disinterested third person (me). Yet that is how they ended up - in a bit of controversy.

From an anthropological viewpoint, it is very interesting to see how that escalation developed. The emotional responses surprised me, and are actually a bit humorous at times. The human propensity for "taking sides" is also an interesting thing to see. Well worth the the 'slings and arrows.'

For those of us who use our REAL names here, it is more understandable that we might take offense more readily. What balls we have! It is probably a bit easier for us to respond sharply, and oddly, easier for us to "get over it" and move on. Why? Because we know who we REALLY are. We have our own faces, feelings and lives. For me, we are "more human" in terms of what we say and do, and are probably more easily criticized because we are 'real.' I feel like I know James and Brad more as real people (and guys like Frodo and yourself, with whom I have PM'ed on real musical stuff - and basically know who you are - in reality.)

But the critical, nasty, anon comments... essentially meaningless.

Well, believe it or not, Shooshie is a name I actually go by. Some of my family call me Shooshie, some don't. My registrations with MOTU are under "Shooshie," and it seems as though when I call MOTU or talk to anyone, they know who Shooshie is. I called just the other day, and was asking about my 424-PCIe card, which was bizarrely defective. I only said, "Hi, this is Shooshie, and I need to discuss my PCI-424 card. Pretty soon they were sending me a new one in the mail, with no other identity asked for. I guess that qualifies me as "real."

Shooshie

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 7:03 pm

Shooshie - Forgive my ignorance. I've been to your website and should have realized that. But again, I instinctively included you as real.

OTOH, I did think you went by a different name in your regular life. You are now in a very distinct class, joining Liberace, Madonna, and Donavan.

(And I'll fix the avatar!)

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 7:49 pm

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:Shooshie - Forgive my ignorance. I've been to your website and should have realized that. But again, I instinctively included you as real.

OTOH, I did think you went by a different name in your regular life. You are now in a very distinct class, joining Liberace, Madonna, and Donavan.

(And I'll fix the avatar!)

Hey, don't forget Elvis!

Shooshie

blue · Post by **blue** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 7:51 pm

Guess I'm not real.

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 8:11 pm

blue wrote:Guess I'm not real.

No, you are as are all persons posting. It is just impossible for me to take any CRITICAL or ANGRY posts by anon members too much to heart.

"Facing you opponent" and "knowing your accuser" - that sort of thing.